The Associated Press

No.

Thursday, February 03, 2000

No.5 Ohio State had to overcome a late deficit and then weathered a pair of 3-point attempts in the final seconds to get past Wisconsin 51-48 Wednesday night.

”That’s a typical game we seem to get caught up in when we play Wisconsin,” said Ohio State coach Jim O’Brien after the Buckeyes (15-3, 6-1) won their seventh in a row and 11th in their last 12 games.

The 51 points matched Ohio State’s lowest point total in a conference win since 1982.

Even though they trailed most of the game, the Badgers (11-10, 3-6 Big Ten) controlled the tempo. Tight defense, mixed with chest bumps and hand checks, held down the scoring at both ends.

Down as many as seven points in the first half, Wisconsin pulled even at 35 on a free throw at the 13:33 mark by Andy Kowske, who led the Badgers with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Following form, neither team scored on its next four possessions.

The Badgers’ 9-0 run was built on their defense and ball-control offense. While Ohio State missed all but one of its 13 shots from the field, Wisconsin took a 40-35 lead on Mike Kelley’s steal and assist on Charlie Wills’ layup and Jon Bryant’s 3-pointer from the right side.

The Buckeyes put up their first points since the 15:25 mark when George Reese scored on a backdoor pass from Redd with 7:23 left. After a Wisconsin miss, Scoonie Penn, who finished with 13 points, hit a 15-footer that went through the net while he hit the floor.

”That’s the ugliest win I’ve ever been associated with at Ohio State,” said Michael Redd, who led the Buckeyes with 14 points. ”We didn’t play well at the offensive end. Everyone was shooting jumpers and coach said, ‘You can’t shoot jumpers against Wisconsin.”’

Ohio State scored its next six points at the line – two apiece by Redd, Penn and Brown – to forge a 45-40 lead and complete a 10-0 run. The Buckeyes finished 12 of 14 at the line, although both misses came in the final 48 seconds.

”We’ve been pretty consistent from the free-throw line all year long,” said O’Brien, whose team is shooting 70 percent at the line – 10 points higher than a year ago when it went to the Final Four. ”I guess if you’re not shooting the ball well elsewhere, you’ve got to get some points from the line.”

The Buckeyes led 49-44 after Reese hit a baseline jumper with 2:07 left. But a 3-pointer by Duany Duany with 29 seconds left cut the lead to 50-48.

Reese was fouled with 22.8 seconds and hit the second of two shots, with Wisconsin calling timeout to set up a 3-point attempt.

Center Mark Vershaw put up a shot behind the arc with 8.5 seconds left that missed, but Kowske rebounded and kicked it out to Kelley who misfired on another 3-pointer. The ball bounced under the basket as time ran out.

”We got the looks we wanted,” Bennett said. ”We just couldn’t put anything away.”

OHIO ST. 51, WISCONSIN 48

WISCONSIN (11-10) 

Kowske 5-11 4-6 14, Kelley 0-2 1-2 1, Vershaw 2-9 1-1 5, Penney 4-8 2-3 10, Boone 0-2 2-2 2, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Bryant 1-6 0-0 3, Duany 3-10 0-0 9, Wills 2-6 0-0 4. Totals 17-54 10-14 48.

OHIO STATE (15-3) 

Ocokoljic 0-1 0-0 0, Johnson 3-10 0-0 6, Penn 3-9 7-8 13, Brown 3-6 2-2 8, Redd 5-12 2-2 14, Darby 2-5 0-0 5, Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, Reese 2-6 1-2 5, Dudley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-49 12-14 51.

Halftime-Ohio St. 29, Wisconsin 23. 3-point goals-Wisconsin 4-18 (Duany 3-7, Bryant 1-6, Kelley 0-1, Vershaw 0-1, Boone 0-1, Penney 0-2), Ohio St. 3-12 (Redd 2-4, Darby 1-2, Ocokoljic 0-1, Brown 0-1, Penn 0-4). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Wisconsin 35 (Kowske 11), Ohio St. 32 (Brown 8). Assists-Wisconsin 12 (Bryant, Vershaw 3), Ohio St. 9 (Brown, Redd 3). Total fouls-Wisconsin 15, Ohio St. 13. A-19,100.